The Light
by kuntakintae
Summary: Three long years has passed since the dragons invaded the present World, and humans are on the brink of extinction. Mages are used as tributes to the Dragons so that they would not hunt humans underground. However, it would only be so long before the dragons decided to kill them off. Only the Dragon slayers can save them, but they are supposedly dead. But are they? Nalu R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**Just a random idea :) Will try to find time updating this, but no promises since this is not my main story and i have another story in line :/ anyway enjoy!**

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_July 7__th__, X794_

"It's a thousand and five hundred jewels," The tavern owner grunted, his gruff voice filling the small, empty lobby.

"It's expensive," The woman, cloaked from head to toe, with a hood pulled over her head so as to hide her identity, stated blatantly.

"Take it or leave it. It's hard to survive nowadays," The owner replied without hesitation. The woman stood still, seemingly contemplating over her choices.

It was already midnight. It was dangerous to walk around at midnight, even thought they were hidden well underground. Robbers, thieves, even rogue mages could kidnap you and give you up for ransom as long as you're a mage.

"Deal," The woman replied coldly, placing said amount onto the desk. The owner eyed the money, and then reached below the desk and retrieved a rust-coated metal key.

"Room 208," He informed her. She nodded curtly, her gloved hand snatching the key off the table swiftly and silently before walking towards the poorly maintained wooden stairway leading to the rooms.

The stairs groaned eerily under her weight as she climbed. Her shadow flickered along with the weak light emitted from the pathetically small flames produced by the wax candles attached to the walls at both sides.

As the woman walked down the dimly lit hallway, she carefully eyed her surroundings, her body tense and ready to spring into action if the slightest bit of trouble appeared.

The smell of disgusting low-grade beer and piss hung heavily in the air, causing the woman to increase her pace so that she would be able to reach her room and hopefully be blessed with a better air than the current one she was in.

Her light steps echoed through the hallway, with nothing but the creaks of the wooden floor accompanying them. Her eyes scanned through the poorly carved numbers on the doors at either side.

As soon as her eyes caught sight of the numbers "208", she increased her pace even more, eager to reach the room as quickly as possible.

Finally, she stood in front of the heavy oak door. She held her breath as she lifted the key and slid it into the keyhole. She muttered a silent prayer to gods she didn't believe before attempting to turn the key.

With an audible "click" which echoed ominously, the door unlocked. As fast as lightning, the woman opened the door and went into fighting stance.

She slowly crept into the room, her eyes darting in all directions, adrenaline pumping wildly through her veins as she took careful steps forward.

She softly breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed as soon as she saw that nothing in the room was out of the ordinary. No assassin could hide in the room, seeing how empty and small it was, and no bombs or traps were set as far as she could see.

As swift as a panther, she turned around, shut the door behind her and locked it. She then took the time to observe the room more carefully.

It was a really small room, lit by a single wax candle placed on the wooden desk at the side. There was a metal-grilled window which allowed air to enter and escape, ventilating the room. A stiff-looking bed was placed against the wall opposite the desk, and that was it.

A huge wave of grief washed over her as she recalled times when motels were much more luxurious, where rooms were much more spacious and living standards were much higher. Along with it came a stream of memories that caused her to spill tears uncontrollably.

She shook her head violently, her tears flying across the air before landing on the hard, dusty wooden floor.

There was no point in crying over the past. Nothing would ever bring her back to those times.

Where life was much simpler. Much more fun and happy. Much more carefree and exhilarating.

Much more peaceful.

And yet, even after three years of telling herself those things, she couldn't help but sob and sob every time the damn memories surfaced in her mind.

It has been three years since the dragons came. Three years since human fell and were forced to hide underground. Three years since she had lost her arm.

Three years since every one she knew disappeared off the face of the Earth, never to be seen again.

Her hood slipped off as her body shook, letting her silky yellow hair tumble down, revealing her beautiful face, marred by the angry slash-scar on her left cheek.

And there she lay, crying and sobbing, letting the maelstrom of emotions bottled up inside her for the day run free in the form of water droplets cascading down her cheeks.

And she cried. Cried for the many people who had died. Cried for the loss arm, which had held one of her most precious belongings-, the fairy tail insignia. Cried for the loss of her guild.

Cried for the loss of her closest friend, who had sacrificed his life for her to survive and live on.

Lucy Heartphillia, the last celestial wizard left on Earth, the holder of the twelve golden keys, a member of what once was the most revered and renowned mage guild in Magnolia and possibly the World, cried for her best friend, whom without him, she would never have been any of the abovementioned.

Natsu Dragneel.


	2. Chapter 2

**I have the some time now because its the holidays, so I decided to update this one HAHA**

**Well, enjoy!**

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_July 7__th__ X794_

"See anything?" A man cloaked from head to toe in a tattered, indigo purple cloak asked in a tense, soft voice.

The other man, also covered head to toe in a similar looking cloak and equally torn and tattered, swiftly raised a gloved finger to his chaffed lips, signaling him to stay silent as he peeked around the wall with extreme care and cautiousness. A stray strand of blond hair fell onto his eye, but he ignored it completely.

His deep blue, dragon-like eyes swept around the wide road, trying to spot the smallest amount of danger. The roads themselves were almost pitch black. The only source of light came from the weak tiny flames flickering on their badly made torches on the sides of the beaten road.

"Nothing as far as I can see. But this road has many alleyways, so I can never be too sure," The man scouting whispered his ominous reply as he retracted his head and leaned against the wall.

"The exit is just a few hundred meters away, Sting. We can survive this," The man beside Sting whispered in an urgent tone.

Sting stared at the exit- a rusty metal gate that guarded the only opening to the next city. Everywhere else was just rocks.

About three years ago, the surviving humans had, with incredible luck, stumbled upon an entrance leading underground. They had feel upon it when hiding from the dragon in a forest.

Said forest was obviously long gone now. All that was left on the above world was the ashes of what was once a great, magical nation called Magnolia.

Somehow, the people who had stumbled upon it managed to escape the dragons and quickly spread news to other survivors of this hole that had appeared from nowhere. As the humans had ventured further into the deep, dark underground tunnels with whatever possessions they had left, it became more and more obvious that these underground passageways had been made a long time ago, and by man as well.

The first city they had reached, now named 'Firrea' was a huge discovery and the reason that had ultimately led to humanity's survival. It was obvious that the old, battered buildings had been made for humans to live in, and there had been several openings that were later discovered to be leading to even larger and less ancient cities.

From then on, what was considered the ground before became their sky. What was considered dark and dangerous before became their only safe haven.

Rogue waited patiently for Sting's reply, his piercing, dark red eyes glaring brightly out of the surrounding darkness.

Sting let out a long, weary sigh as he contemplated deeply about the huge risk his fellow dragon slayer was suggesting.

Neither of them mentioned it, but they knew that there were at least twenty deadly assassins hiding in the black shadows, waiting specifically for them to appear.

They could smell their hideous scent, their evil glee and their dark anticipation.

The town they were residing in, Tricia, was the third city that had been discovered. It was also, unfortunately, the worst-off city in the whole underground empire. It was known to have the highest mage captures in the past three years, the highest crime rate, and the highest disease and sickness rate.

They had only stayed for one night in the damn God-forsaken town, but they had already been spotted and identified.

"We're going," Sting said with a voice of resignation, closing his eyes as he mentally prepared himself for the impending deadly sprint towards the exit.

"One. Two. Three," Sting counted.

The very second they activated their dragon force, the very air around them was pushed away by the pure power released, creating a wave of air that blew everything away from their bodies.

Immediately, alarms blared, and noise from every crook and corner erupted. Suddenly, more than thirty black figures were rushing towards them, armed with chipped swords and old crossbows, their malice permeating the air like a thick cloud descending upon them.

"GO!" Sting shouted before releasing a sudden burst of power from his legs that propelled him over all the assailants. Rogue merely melted into the shadows and travelled past them in the shadows.

"Look out! I can see the device!" Sting shouted, his sharp eyes spotting the silver gun held by one of the assailants.

Dragon slayers had been the highest wanted 'criminals' ever since the humans were forced underground. They were the only threat to the dragons. Hence, the humans, not wanting to risk the dragon's being angered enough to find a way to dig underground, decided that it was best to capture and give up mages, especially dragon slayers, to appease the dragons.

Hence, people had been finding ways to be able to counter dragon slayer's magic. The silver device had been constructed two years ago. It's role- to pull Rogue out of the shadows.

As soon as the tip of Sting's foot touched the ground, he immediately started to sprint towards the exit. Rogue had decided to jump across the roofs of the two-story buildings, not wanting to risk getting captured by the device.

"White dragon slayer's claw!" Sting shouted, cutting through ten layers of nylon nets in front of him that had suddenly been raised. His attack cut through the nylon as though they were made of dust.

_"Just fifty more…"_ Sting thought as he ran. He cursed as a bolt of electricity moved towards him at the speed of lightning, and rolled on the ground. The yellow bolt of electricity was so close; the static caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand.

"Fuck! What kind of devices do they make nowadays!" Sting shouted as he finally jumped over the closed, rusted metal gate. Rogue merely slipped through the shadows and solidified beside him.

Panting lightly, they ran deeper into the tunnel, not wanting to risk any flying projectiles hitting them. They could hear the insane, animal cries of frustration and disappointment behind them, screaming crazily for them to come back as they rattled the metal gates, which were so high they could never possibly climb.

The maze was about the only safe haven for mages now. Normal, sane humans never dared to traverse the mazes without at least being very well prepared, as the possibility of getting lost were high.

Also, wild, insane cannibals lived in the mazes. They had gone crazy after so many of their loved ones had died, and they had been cast out by society early on.

Mages could handle it- they were strong, they had magic, they had faced death too many times to count. They still feared death, but they could keep calm in the face of it, whilst most normal humans can't.

"Makes me miss the good old days when only a few hundred people wanted to kill us," Sting chuckled after they had stopped and rested at a turn.

"Hn," Rogue merely grunted, plopping down and leaning his head against the rough wall.

"Let's rest here for a minute," Rogue said, closing his eyes as he took in deep breaths to calm his palpitating heart.

"Gohora's at least a two days away. I can smell it," Sting said as he plopped down beside Rogue.

"Do you really think that he would still be alive? We have not heard of any prominent mages for a long time," Rogue asked quietly.

"Maybe. It's the first word we've gotten ever since we came underground that matches close to someone we know. We have to try," Sting said.

"…Let's get going then. I don't want Gajeel to disappear before we get to meet him. If he's still alive, that is." Sting nodded in agreement.

"Let's go. Who knows, he may have been able to save…" Sting said, his voice dying out at the last part as his mind wandered into the memories of three years ago.

They both stood up, lifting up the small bag of supplies they had managed to protect in their escape, and trudged further into the deep darkness,

Both were thinking about their exceeds, their closest companions who had been lost during the mess of the dragon's arrival, their hearts heavy and their minds numb.


End file.
